Advice on brake lines

[pmrphil]

Like he said above, Mastercool hydraulic flaring tool, hands down. You'll never go back to a manual flaring tool.

[Paul Precht]

Mastercool makes brake lines an enjoyable job.

[David Lee]

thanks for all the help, a master cool will be here on tuesday

[Tom Meyer]

I would recommend copper nickel brake line, bends easy flares great and does not rust. Just got done with my car and it turned out nice. Tom

[Mark Yacavone]

A K-D will work. You have to squeeze it in a vise as close as you can to where the threaded clamp goes on .
If you let it slip, it takes out the serrations in the bar.

[CMcAllister]

The auto parts store tools are awful. That style of tool is okay, IF you get a quality one.

I have that big Mastercool set. It does a great job. Like any tool, you have to use it a few times to get comfortable with it. It does a lot of different types of flares - bubble, push loc, A/C. Probably overkill if you are just doing straight flares, or inverted flares. They do smaller sets with the hydraulic tool and just the adapters you'll likely need.

I have had guys tell me the Eastwood tool works great, never used one so I can't say.

If you are doing AN type fittings, you'll need to get the 37 degree tooling to do it right as opposed to cheating it with the 45 degree stuff.

I like to use the "Bundyflex" zinc plated steel tubing. Comes in 25' rolls. It's harder than the CuNi stuff, will hold it's shape better and should be bent with tools. The green coated tubing is miserable to flare and also too soft.

[David Lee]

is 37 degree with just plain steel lines safe?

[Rory McNeil]

I recently made up all new brake and fuel lines with the Ni-Copp tubing , which works great, and flares nicely. I have also struggled in the past, even with my Snap On double flaring tool, trying to get a nice, uniform double flare. A couple of years ago, I bought an inline flaring tool, from my local NAPA store, and it works so much better than the typical double flare tool that has a bar with multiple holes for different size tubing. My inline flaring tool is only for 3/16" tubing, but it does them very well, and as a bonus, is much more compact, so very handy for making flares while under the car, or in areas with limited room to work.

[FireSale]

Originally Posted by Tom Meyer

I would recommend copper nickel brake line, bends easy flares great and does not rust. Just got done with my car and it turned out nice. Tom

I was under the impression NiCor line was not allowed or at least frowned on because it has a low melting point and kinkes easier than steel. I have a coil of it on the wall and am redoing my lines too.

[cad]

Originally Posted by FireSale

I was under the impression NiCor line was not allowed or at least frowned on because it has a low melting point and kinkes easier than steel. I have a coil of it on the wall and am redoing my lines too.

Rule book states that brake line must be DOT approved, which NiCopp is.

Faster classes require steel. I do highly recommend very good support for the rear brake lines. I have had a flare break in the flare nut at the caliper due to vibration.